The heart is perpetually in
vigorous motion, and the brain should be as busy as the
heart.
Godey's Lady's Book <1>

In nineteenth century America, Godey's
Lady's Book was the "Victorian Bible of the
Parlor," <2> and its
editor, Sarah Josepha Hale, preached the sacred gospel of
"true womanhood" -- piety, purity, and domesticity.
<3> The pages of Godey's were
dedicated to sweet, wholesome prose and poetry, to recipes for
"Refreshing Drinks for Hot Weather" <4> and to the "Latest Fashion for
Head-dresses." <5>
Mrs. Hale, as editor of Godey's, often wrote of the
moral superiority with which God had graced women, thus rendering
women res onsible for the morality of the family and, by
extension, of sodety. <6> However, Mrs. Hale's conventional view of women, as
domestic creatures infused with moral goodness, influenced her to
assume an unconventional position. According to Mrs. Hale, a
woman's ". . . first right is to education in its widest
sense, to such education as will give her the full development of
all her personal, mental and moral qualities." <7> Therefore, in order to
fulfill her moral obligations, a woman must first receive the
education necessary to be successful in her noble mission. Sarah
Hale and her Godey's Lady's Book emphasized that a
woman's primary place should be in the home as an example of
morality and virtue to her family; however, Mrs. Hale's
contributions to the cause of female education ultimately
provided the means for women to enter and to compete in the
public sphere.

Godey's Lady's Book
was founded by Louis Godey in 1830. Under Mr. Godey's direction
the book was relatively insignificant, and employed the common
practice of the times of reprinting articles from English
periodicals. <8>
Not until Mr. Godey persuaded Sarah Hale to become the editor of Godey's
in 1836 <9> did the magazine begin to gain
widespread success, culminating in an extensive circulation of
150,000. <10> The popularity of Godey's
was so great that many women who would not otherwise be able to
afford the subscription rate would join together to form clubs
which would subscribe to the magazine, thus reducing the cost to
each member. <11>
The widespread appeal of the magazine, due to its colored fashion
plates and its articles on health, architecture, beauty,
gardening and cookery, meant that as editor of the magazine Mrs.
Hale's potential influence on women would be considerable.

One of Sarah Hale's first
decisions upon assuming her position as editor of Godey's
was to rid the magazine of much of the "watery verse and
sugary romances" <12> which had dominated its pages under Mr. Godey's
direction. Although many of the poems and stories published in Godey's
remained sentimental, Mrs. Hale also introduced readers to the
works of several major writers -- Irving, Longfellow, Lowell,
Holmes, Emerson, Bryant, Whittier -- who contributed to Godey's
Lady's Book. One writer, Edgar Allen Poe, contributed so
frequently to Godey's that one of his biographers states
that through 1846 "Godey's Lady's Book must have
been the main source of his livelihood." <13> The literary quality of Godey's
was thus raised to the point at which "to appear in Godey's
Lady's Book was to be made." <14>

As Sarah Hale sought to improve
the literary quality of stories submitted by professional
writers, she also attempted to advance the writing skills of Godey's
readers. She published several articles which described
proper writing techniques. One article, titled "Rule of
Composition," instructed writers to "give yourself as
you are -- what you see, and how you see it.
Shakespeare, Goethe, Cervantes, gave the world as they
saw it, each for himself . . ." <15> Other articles emphasized the need for a
strong vocabulary <16> and the
dangers of verbosity.<17> Mrs. Hale published the titles of those
articles which had been accepted and also those which did not
meet the magazine's standards.<18> Her impatience with those submissions which
she did not accept often led her to write announcements such as
the following -- "We again repeat that we will not accept
any stories where runaway horses or upsetting of boats is
necessary to the denouement -- certainly some other incidents can
be invented." <19>

Mrs. Hale's desire to aid in
the literary improvement of Godey's readers prompted her
to prescribe reading courses, which if followed would have
resulted in the equivalent of a college education. <20> Titles suggested resented such
diverse subjects as Elements of Intellectual Philosophy,
<21> Principles of Zoology <22> and Thoughts on the Future
Civil Policy of America. <23> If subscribers could not find these books, Godey's
would obtain the works for them. <24>

Although exposure to
well-written and informative literary works would definitely
improve a woman's base of knowledge, such efforts were not enough
to provide the education which Sarah Hale thought it crucial for
women to possess. Godey's Lady's Book published an article which
stated that knowledge ". . . is the first and most essential
element of power; it is the germ of all prosperity; it is the
means of all enjoyment." <25>

Mrs. Hale first presented her
ideas on the necessity of women's education in such a way that it
would be agreeable to men -- ". . . intelligent
companionship, a life in which ideas have a share, is much more
attractive to men, and women also, than a life of mere outside
events." <26> Godey's
Lady's Book published articles by Catherine Beecher, Emma
Willard, and others who shared Mrs. Hale's views on female
education. Also published in Godey's were notices by
schools for women, thereby keeping readers up to date on the
status of female seminaries, and their locations and costs. <27> Any school for women was guaranteed
space in the magazine simply by submitting a catalogue.

As Sarah Hale's ideas
concerning the education of women gained acceptance, she
proceeded to assert that women must not only be educated, but
must be educated in the same manner accorded to men. "No sex
in education!" Such was the motto of Mrs. Hale, who
published an article in Godey's declaring:

And, indeed, if there were
to be any difference between a girl's education and a boy's,
I should say that of the two the girl should be earlier led .
. . and that her range of literature should be, not more, but
less frivolous . . . <28>

Sarah Hale's desire that women
be educated as liberally as men were educated prompted her to
welcome the opening of Vassar College, a school designed to
"accomplish for young women what our colleges are
accomplishing for young men." <29> In fact, Mrs. Hale's determination to see
Vassar succeed inspired her to write to Matthew Vassar, the
founder of the college, and offer his school free publicity in Godey's
Lady's Book. "I shall rejoice to aid in your good plan,
by making the readers of the Lady's Book your earnest
friends..." <30>
In this vein Mrs. Hale repeatedly printed articles describing the
status of Vassar, and declaring to Godey's readers that
"Vassar College we consider as one of the most important
interests of our age and nation, therefore we make it a subject
of particular attention." <31>

The concern for Vassar's
ultimate success led Mrs. Hale to display particular concern when
the college's original outline of organization provided for no
women executives. <32>
In an article titled "Vassar College -- the New Plan of
Organization Explained -- Only One Defect and This May Be Easily
Amended," Mrs. Hale stated the following:

It would seem that not only
the President but all the teachers are to be men . . . all
instructors should be ladies except when properly qualified
teachers of that sex cannot be found . . . surely the
President and Trustees of this college, which is designed . .
. for the elevation of woman, will not commence by degrading
her. <33>

Mrs. Hale's plea proved
effective, and when Vassar opened on September 20, 1865, the
faculty was comprised of 22 women (as opposed to 8 men).

Sarah Hale's interest in
education extended to the education of children, and she felt
that women were the best suited to this enterprise. Mrs. Hale
felt that women's "native feminine patience and
understanding of children" provided a more positive
influence for children than did the more aggressive temperament
of men. <34> Sarah Hale praised Catherine
Beecher's efforts to train women to teach in the West, <35> and Godey's Lady's Book
publicized the work of the organization founded by Ms. Beecher,
The Board of National Popular Education. <36> In June, 1846, Godey's announced that it was
authorized and prepared to handle requests from communities
desiring teachers and applications from young women wishing to
teach. <37> Such notices appealed to
women from various backgrounds and locales, and who shared the
desire to teach. <38>
To such women, Godey's provided the means to fulfill their
aspirations.

As the number of women in the
teaching profession increased, Mrs. Hale continued to address the
concerns of teachers. In an article titled, "Appeal to the
Fortieth Congress of the United States," published in Godey's
in 1868, Sarah Hale stated that:

The profession of teacher
requires . . . as thorough and special training as that of
any of the other intellectual professions. The great majority
of teachers are deficient in this training . . . the
complaint on this head is indeed universal. And it is coupled
with another complaint of the inadequate salaries almost
everywhere paid to teachers . . . <39>

Mrs. Hale's advocacy of women
teachers was extremely effective, and in 1839, when the first
normal school in the country was opened, it was for women. In
October, 1839, Mrs. Hale wrote in Godey's that, "There is
soon to be another Normal School for males -- but the recedence
has, for once, been given in the walks of science to women!"
<40> Mrs. Hale's efforts on behalf
of teachers did not go unrecognized. In 1860, the Baltimore
Female College, one of the largest seminaries in the country,
presented a medal "to Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale, editress of Godey's
Lady's Book, for her distinguished services in the cause of
female education.."

Sarah Hale believed that as
women were ideal for the teaching profession, due to their native
patience and understanding, likewise were they perfect candidates
for the field of medicine. An article in Godey's explains,
"The property of her nature which renders her the best of
nurses, with proper instruction, equally qualifies her to be the
best of physicians. Above all is this the case with her own sex
and her children." <41> By this emphasis on the need for female
physicians to treat their own sex as well as children, Mrs. Hale
defended her relatively nonconformist position on this issue by
employing traditional arguments -- it was "unnatural"
for male physicians to treat the intimate complaints of women,
and this could cause women to ignore troubling conditions rather
that consult with a male practitioner. <42> As with her public statements regarding
education for women, once her rather conservative view was
accepted, Sarah Hale began to pursue the idea further. After
women became accepted in the medical profession, Mrs. Hale pushed
for women's medical schools. Godey's published an
article profiling Elizabeth Blackwell, the first American female
physician, and ended the article by noting that the "The
people of the Great West are in earnest to place woman in her
rifht sphere of Doctress for her own sex and for children. They
are right." <43>

During the years Sarah Hale
spent as editor of Godey's Lady's Book her views
concerning careers for women underwent a notable transformation.
<44> Beginning in 1852, Godey's
began publishing notices that gave specifc information re arding
the various occupations in which women were employed. <45> As demonstrated by her
efforts pertaining to the inclusion of women in the teaching and
medical professions, Mrs. Hale also continued to fight for
women's entrance into professions previously closed to them. One
article published in Godey's applauded the increasing
numbers of women becoming postmistresses, and observed that,
"Probably one-half of all the post-offices in the land would
be safer and better managed by women than by men." <46> As her support for women
entering professional life grew, Mrs. Hale wrote, "Every
young woman in our land should be qualified by some
accomplishment which she may teach, or some art or profession she
can follow, to support herself creditably, should the necessity
occur." <47>

As Sarah Josepha Hale announced
in Godey's in 1850:

The Lady's Book .
. . was the first avowed advocate of the holy cause of
woman's intellectual progress; it has been the pioneer in the
wonderful change of public sentiment respecting female
education and the employment of female talent in educating
the young. We intend to go on . . . till female education
shall receive the same careful attention and liberal support
from public legislation as are bestowed on that of the other
sex. Such is the mission of the Lady's Book. <48>

Sarah Hale, the editor of Godey's
Lady's Book firmly believed that woman's natural mission was
to serve as a model of virtue, thus providing an impeccable moral
example for her family, and by extension, for the Republic.
However, while a traditional interpretation of the cult of
domesticity would place the woman strictly in the home, Mrs. Hale
and her Godey's Lady's Book encouraged, if not impelled,
women to properly educate themselves and to enter the
professional world.